That car also is in the inception stages, with BMW M working on its business case. The 1 Series M will weigh less than 2900 pounds and its turbo four must make at least 300 horsepower, Willisch says. “I would love to have a car like that in our range. It would also be a good thing to get the interest of younger customers again. This would only be a story for the next 1 Series, so you’d be looking at 2014 or so.”

Being a fan of Honda engines, I requested that they consider building for the F1 a 4.5 liter V10 or V12. I asked, I tried to persuade them, but in the end could not convince them to do it, and the McLaren F1 ended up with a BMW engine.